Recently, lawyers representing Jewish groups at the University of Illinois exchanged letters with the UI administration about antisemitism on campus. As reported by the News-Gazette, the lawyers’ letter alerted the administration: “Too many incidents of harassment based on antisemitism or anti-Zionism remain inadequately addressed or completely ignored.”
Not too long ago I would have welcomed such a letter and, were I a lawyer, would have co-signed it. After all, one incident of antisemitism ignored is one too many (as is one incident of Islamophobia—which is not mentioned in the letter). However, I reject the letter’s implication that anti-Zionism is antisemitism
True, Israel does define itself as the nation-state of the Jewish people, and according to this definition, to reject the legitimacy of Israel is to deny to Jews something—a state—that is claimed to be rightfully theirs. If this were the case, then anti-Zionism would in fact be equivalent to anti-Semitism. But just because Israel defines itself as the state of the Jewish people does not make it so. True, lots of Jews live in Israel, but more than half of the Jewish population of the world lives outside of Israel, and Israel is not their state. They have no official say in its policies.
In fact, the claim that Jews were loyal to a foreign state was one of the biggest lies perpetrated by antisemites prior to the formation of Israel. Some Jews were unwilling to reinforce this lie by supporting early Zionism; while other Jews, Zionists, worked very hard to bring a Jewish state into being. For the Zionists Israel was seen as a necessary component of Jewish destiny.
I am agnostic about the idea of all movements—Jewish, Palestinian, etc.—that are built on claims of a fixed identity and an assumed destiny. Regardless of my agnosticism, there is a need to call attention to the destructive racist acts of Israel and to find ways to put a stop to them.
The lawyers’ letter to the UI administration retards this effort. The presumed connection between anti-Zionism and antisemitism distorts legitimate protests against Israel by connecting them with illegitimate acts against Jews. Anti-Zionism, as a response to the policies of the Israeli government, should not be confused with antisemitism.
The reason I object to the letter then is not that I reject Israel’s legitimacy. Even though I have deep reservations about ethno-religious states, these reservations are not confined to Israel. I object because the letter is too easily read as giving Israel a pass on its morally repulsive behavior in Gaza and the West Bank.
Walter Feinberg is the C. D. Hardie emeritus professor of philosophy of education at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His latest book, Educating for Democracy, is published by Cambridge University Press.